The present invention relates to garment hangers and more particularly to hangers which are adapted to engage the inside surface of the waistband of a garment.
Heretofore, a wide variety of skirt, pants, and slack hanger have been proposed. Some of these hangers employ a pair of clamps joined to or mounted on a main hanger body. The clamps engage outer surfaces of the garment at the waistband. Another form of garment hanger is of the internal type which is adapted to engage an inner surface of the waistband of the garment. The majority of an internal hanger is covered by the garment when in use. The hanger will not, therefore, detract from the visual appearance of the garment.
Internal garment hangers have suffered from various problems or shortcomings. Generally, such hangers must be capable of supporting the garment not only for display purposes but also for shipment purposes. When the garment is shipped on the hanger, it may be readily positioned on the rack for display purposes at the retail level. An example of a prior internal garment hanger may be found in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,498 entitled TELESCOPIC GARMENT HANGER and issued on Mar. 8, 1988 to Blanchard. The hanger shown therein includes a main body member supported at its center by a suspension hook and a pair of end slides which are telescopingly received within the main body member. The slides are biased to an outward, garment engaging position by an elastic band. Ends of the band are received in seats defined by bosses formed on the main body. Each band is looped around an inner end of the slide member. Vertically extending hand grips are provided for moving the slides inwardly against the resilient bias of the bands
Attempts to provide sufficient engagement forces have resulted in bulky hangers, hangers which are difficult to apply to or remove from the garment and hangers which are difficult to manufacture and/or assemble. Problems have been presented with providing such hangers with a self-centering capability. It is desirable that the hanger center itself with respect to the garment so that the suspension hook is not off center and the hanger will support the garment in a straight position.
A need exists for an internal garment hanger which possesses increased ease of manufacture and assembly, which will readily support a wide variety of garments for display and transport purposes and which may be easily used.